The Department of Agriculture (DA) has approved the importation of 35,000 metric tons (MT) of red onions to cover a two-month production gap and tame market prices.
The importation will be allowed from January 3 up to mid-February “so that it will not be in competition with the main harvest time starting March,” DA secretary William Dar said in a press conference on January 3.
DA undersecretary Ariel Cayanan explained that onion farmers harvest the yellow variety in late January and the red onions in early March.
According to Dar, red onions currently sell for P250 per kilo, while the Philippine Statistics Authority, in its latest price monitoring, said prices of red onions are at a high of P195 per kilogram for wholesale, and range from P180 to P260 per kilo for retail. In supermarkets, prices range from P150 to P200 a kilo.
China will be ones of the sources of imported red onions.
